Best Colleges in Wyoming 2017-2018

Top Consensus Ranked School in Wyoming

To identify the Best Colleges in Wyoming for 2017-2018 we averaged the latest results from the most respected college ranking systems with thousands of real student review scores from around the web to produce a unique College Consensus rating for each school. You won’t find a more comprehensive ranking of the top colleges and universities in Wyoming anywhere. Read more about our rankings methodology and sources at our about page.

Colleges & Universities in Wyoming

Traditionally, coal, oil, and agriculture were the cornerstones of Wyoming’s economy, and they remain to be, along with eco- and adventure tourism. That is still the case, but unfortunately, in the last decade Wyoming has seen significant population loss as young people move to more promising, less challenging states. The state has begun finding innovative ways to turn the tide back, starting job initiatives (such as Wyoming Grown) to keep and attract young workers.

At this time, only one institution of higher learning, the University of Wyoming 59 , has made the College Consensus. This is no commentary on the quality of Wyoming’s higher education, but only a reflection of the simple fact that, as a large state with a small population, there are only two four-year institutions in Wyoming. Wyoming Catholic College, while recognized by the Cardinal Newman Society (an authoritative survey of Catholic schools), is not regionally accredited and thus not included in the College Consensus system.

The University of Wyoming, a large, public research institution, was founded in 1886 as the territory’s land-grant college, even before Wyoming was officially admitted as a state. With the mission of providing agricultural and applied science instruction to the newly-created territory, the University of Wyoming began its life with a deep rooting in the land that has continued today. UW is best known for its science and environmental programs, including the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Recent years have seen substantial growth in UW’s nursing and health sciences programs as well, reflecting an important shift in the state’s economic base and corresponding national trends.

As Wyoming’s only public research institution, the University of Wyoming serves an outsized and absolutely crucial purpose in the life, learning, and culture of the state. With Wyoming’s sparse and spread-out population, UW has put an extraordinary amount of investment and effort into building one of the largest and most effective distance education programs. At this point, distance education is part of UW’s DNA, having been the first school in the west to begin correspondence programs by mail over 100 years ago. Today, UW uses online education to reach students and meet the needs of the many working adults and rural students who cannot attend on campus, further cementing the University of Wyoming’s centrality to Wyoming’s character and future.